The world scout emblem, used worldwide by

Scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

and many Scout organizations within the

Scout Movement Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including ...

is the

fleur-de-lis The ''fleur-de-lis'', also spelled ''fleur-de-lys'' (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a common heraldic charge in the (stylized) shape of a lily (in French, and mean and respectively). Most notably, the ''fleur-de-lis'' ...

, commonly with a five-point star in each outer lobe. This emblem was adopted by Scouts from the inception of the Scout Movement and is used, in various forms, by many Scout organizations.

Origins of the emblem

In 1897,

Robert Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder of The Boy Scouts Association and its first Chief Scout, and founder, with ...

trained soldiers in India in scouting. The British Army awarded trained

army scout In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

s a brass fleur-de-lis-shaped badge. In 1907, Baden-Powell issued copper fleur-de-lis badges to participants of his experimental camp on Brownsea Island in 1907 and he included a simple fleur-de-lis design Scout badge in his book, ''

Scouting for Boys ''Scouting for Boys: A handbook for instruction in good citizenship'' is a book on Boy Scout training, published in various editions since 1908. Early editions were written and illustrated by Robert Baden-Powell with later editions being exten ...

''. Soon after, a five-pointed star was added to each of the outer lobes of the fleur-de-lis. Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts adopted the fleur-de-lis as their symbol.

Symbolism

The fleur-de-lis represents the north point on a map or compass and is intended to point Scouts on the path to service. The three lobes on the fleur-de-lis represent the three parts of the Scout Promise: duty to God, service to others and obedience to the Scout Law. A "bond", tying the three lobes of the fleur-de-lis together, symbolizes the family of Scouting. The two five-point stars stand for truth and knowledge, with the ten points representing the ten points of the

Scout Law Scout Law is a set of codes in the Scout movement. Since the publication of '' Scouting for Boys'' in 1908, all Scouts and Guides around the world have taken a Scout Promise or oath to live up to the ideals of the movement and have subscribed to ...

External links

References

{{Scouting World Organization of the Scout Movement Scouting uniform